Project description
Wild bees are key pollinators of wild plants and crops, but they face many threats, among which are the effects of intensive agriculture. In the Horizon Europe project “Promoting sustainable agriculture for pollinators” (AGRI4POL) research and stakeholder partners across Europe, including Switzerland, have joined forces to advance the basic and applied knowledge required to promote pollinator-friendly farming systems from the gene to field and landscape scales. AGRI4POL’s major goal is to promote the benefits of transforming agriculture from being a pressure on pollinators to becoming a positive force for restoring and managing pollinators and pollination services that support agriculture and provide food and other benefits to ecosystems and people. In the framework of the AGRI4POL project, a Postdoc position is available at Agroscope in Zürich, Switzerland.
Your tasks
- Coordination of ecological field studies and experiments designed to test the effectiveness of measures to promote pollinators and crop pollination services (e.g., crop diversification, optimization of green infrastructure etc.) in agroecosystems
- Data collection in agricultural landscapes in Switzerland
- Statistical analysis of collected empirical data
- Synthesis analysis of large existing datasets to assess how local ecological focus areas and ecological infrastructure can be optimized to promote pollinators in agricultural landscapes
- Publication of results in international journals
Your qualifications
- PhD in Ecology, Biology, Environmental Sciences, or similar
- Passion and ideally expertise in pollinator ecology/conservation and/or agroecology
- Experience in conducting field studies and/or experiments ideally in these research fields
- Proficiency in statistical analysis (e.g., mixed-effect models) using the software R
- Ideally experience in statistical analysis of large datasets
- Proficiency English writing is essential, German communication skills are an advantage
What we offer
We offer a collaborative environment in an interdisciplinary project team, flexible working options, excellent research infrastructure and a competitive salary. The Postdoc candidate will work in Zürich at Agroscope, the Swiss federal centre of excellence for research in agriculture and food sector, in the research group Agricultural Landscapes and Biodiversity. The research group conducts basic and applied research to better understand drivers of biodiversity and how biodiversity and associated ecosystem services supporting sustainable agriculture can be effectively promoted.
Application
We look forward to receiving your online application, including a maximum 1-page letter outlining your suitability and motivation for the post, detailed CV, including academic transcripts and contacts of 2-3 referees al together in one single PDF file. Application deadline: 8 January 2025 Please send your application to matthias.albrecht@agroscope.admin.ch.
Starting date: 1st of March/April 2025 or as agreed. Duration: 3-4 years.
Place of work: Zürich
Salary: According to the standards of the Swiss National Science Foundation
Employment level: 100%
